Indonesian Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Agrees to Ban Sea Turtle Headstarting

Indonesian Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries responded positively to ProFauna Indonesia's recommendation to ban sea turtle headstarting (keeping sea turtle babies for a long time before releasing them to the sea). Sea turtle headstarting mechanism is mentioned in the Technical Guidelines of Sea Turtle Conservation - Marine Affairs and Fisheries Service 2009, which becomes a national reference for all sea turtle conservation program in the country. ProFauna sees that sea turtle headstarting has no positive impact for the conservation of sea turtle, in fact it heightened their mortality rate. The exploitation  is also much more intense in headstarting practice, compared to the conservation.

In the meeting between the Marine Affairs and Fisheries Service and ProFauna Indonesia, which was also attended by the WWF, Ministry of Forestry, and Indonesian Institute of Science, in Jakarta (20/3/2014) the Area Director and Species Conservation of the Marine Affairs and Fisheries Service, Ir.Agus Dermawan ordered for a halt to all forms of headstarting in Indonesia. "For sea turtles unintentionally got ensnared by fishing nets (bycatch), they must be released immediately, no need to bring them to the shore," added him.

ProFauna Indonesia welcomes this policy. Bayu Sandi, ProFauna's campaign officer, said "This is a big leap forward for the Marine Affairs and Fisheries Service, which also brings a big reformation for the conservation of sea turtles in Indonesia."

The Marine Affairs and Fisheries Service, ProFauna, the WWF, and all the representatives present at the occasion agreed to hold another meeting to talk about the amendments of the existing guidelines. Thank you for the Marine Affairs and Fisheries Service and everybody who supports sea turtle conservation in Indonesia!